Kelly Fremon

10 Screenwriters to Watch

It’s not easy to get noticed if you’re working in a genre as well-mined as romantic comedy. But the usual barriers to recognition haven’t really applied to Fremon.

With just two feature-length scripts under her belt, she is well on her way to becoming her generation’s Nora Ephron.

Born and raised in Orange County, Fremon grew up on a steady diet of Hughes and Guest. While enrolled at nearby UC Irvine, she performed comedic monologues and spoken-word poetry at local coffee houses.

But her decision to become a screenwriter came suddenly and without warning.

“When I was still in college, I got an internship in the film division at Immortal Entertainment. I read one script and immediately knew this was what I wanted to do,” she explains.

She scored her first writing assignment soon after graduation, when Level 1 hired her to create a contemporary version of Cyrano de Bergerac set in high school. (The project is being shopped.)

Fremon then found herself a mentor. Her second script, “Ticket to Ride,” about a young woman who struggles to adjust to the demands of adult life after graduating from college, quickly caught the attention of producer-helmer Ivan Reitman. His company, Montecito Pictures, bought the script and is developing it as a likely directing vehicle for Reitman.

“Over the past year, Kelly has written at least 15 drafts of the script,” Reitman notes. “While she completely was open to doing the work that was necessary to improve it, she also worked very hard to maintain her own language and the integrity of her characters. She really has her own voice, which is her greatest strength. There’s a wonderful family of people in ‘Ticket to Ride,’ and she’s found individual truths about each one of them. We’re already looking for something new to do with her.”

“Ticket to Ride” also has opened other doors for the young scribe. In March, Paramount hired her to write a comedic remake of Patrice Leconte’s 2004 drama “Intimate Strangers,” with Hilary Swank attached to star.

“Character-based comedy is what I love to do; those are the types of movies that move me, so I’ll be happy writing them for a while,” says Fremon, who also has aspirations to direct.

Vital StatsAge: 27Provenance: La Habra, Calif.Inspired by: John Hughes, Christopher Guest, Alexander Payne, Nick Hornby and David Sedaris. “I love stuff that’s funny because it’s true-to-life, like when you see a character who reminds you exactly of one of your relatives.”Reps: Agent: Ava Jamshidi at ICM; manager: Brooklyn Weaver at Energy Entertainment; attorney: Adam Kaller at Behr Abramson Kaller